Centurion, Dec 30 (UNI) From scripting historic win at the Gabba, Australia with a second-string side to securing first-ever victory at Centurion, South Africa, the year 2021 marked as "one of the greatest in Indian Test cricket", KL Rahul stated on Thursday.
Between Gabba and Centurion, India also stamped their authority at the Lord's and the Oval in England.
India opener Rahul, who was one of the members in all these milestones, said that "It's a super special year for team India and the kind of achievements we have gotten this year. I think it'll go down as one of the greatest years in Indian Test cricket history."
"The victories have taken a lot of hard work and discipline. We worked really really hard as a team for the last few years," he added in a virtual press conference.
India became the first-ever Asian team to win a Test match at Centurion. The Virat Kohli-led side defeated South Africa by 113 runs.
"We had put in a lot of hard work in last two weeks leading into this match. We also had lots of fun at training. It was a complete team performance and it gives us a lot of confidence."
Rahul along with his opening partner Mayank Agarwal set the tone of the match, with their 117-run partnership. The vice-captain Rahul went onto record a century before getting out for 123 off 260 balls in the first innings.
"In terms of the conditions, wicket and how challenging it was, I think this innings will be right up there for me because I'd to take a lot of guts, determination and discipline to get the century and get my team to a winning position," said Rahul.
Rahul was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock.
The India opener displayed the art of leaving the ball during his inning. Talking about it, he said it is the key in Test cricket. He added that when it comes to red-ball cricket, one needs to be disciplined and play the waiting game.
"It's something that I'm enjoying doing a lot. I think that's the key to Test cricket. You need to enjoy leaving balls outside the off-stump.
"I know we play a lot of one-day and T20 cricket and smashing the ball all over the park is exciting and thrilling but when it comes to Test cricket you got to learn to be disciplined and play the waiting game.
"Mistakes happen when you get bored of doing the same thing but for me I have tried to enjoy leaving balls outside the off-stump, playing the defensive shots, and tiring bowlers at times. That is what is expected out of me as an opener."
When asked how the team has benefitted from having Rahul Dravid as the chief coach, the opener said that India is lucky to have someone like him. He noted that Dravid has brought a lot of calmness and balance in the dressing room.
Former cricketer and ex NCA chief Dravid took over the role of head coach from Ravi Shastri following the conclusion of T20 World Cup 2021.
"A great cricketer like Rahul Dravid when comes into your dressing room as a coach, you want to sit with him and pick his brain. You talk to him how he was successful for so many years. You talk about the art of batting.
"We all are very lucky to have a guy like him in the dressing room. He has brought a lot of calm and balance in the dressing room. He focuses more on preparations. He made us work really hard at training in nets. We enjoyed that period. It's a great opportunity for us to learn and get better as cricketers."
When India last toured South Africa in 2017–18, they lost the Test series by 1-2. Talking about that series, Rahul said that the team has learnt a lot from previous visit.
"We leant a lot from the last tour. A few of the guys have been on 2-3 tours prior to this so there has been lot of learning. We sat down as a unit and discussed what were the mistakes we had done in previous series and what we need to do better to be successful and consistent in a country like South Africa.
"We shared our experiences as a group and that really helped us and we came better prepared this time. We stayed in the moment, took one session at a time and didn't think about the result. Didn't think about the pitch or weather. We stayed in the moment. We'll continue to do that and build on it," Rahul signed off.
India will next take on South Africa in the second Test, which begins on January 3 in Johannesburg.
UNI PN